Editorial

Panama deadlock

Danger now is that the PTI will once again lead its troops into the sterile wilderness of dharna politics

Editorial June 12, 2016

Danger now is that the PTI will once again lead its troops into the sterile wilderness of dharna politics. PHOTO: ICIJ

It can come as little surprise to any observer of the politics of Pakistan that the parliamentary committee tasked with investigating the Panama Papers revelations has run into the sand. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has dropped a strong hint that it will leave the committee as it is going nowhere and both sides are operating from irreconcilable positions. The crux remains whether or not the investigation will specifically focus on the prime minister and his family members or, as the government wishes, a broader palette that takes in a range of historical issues and, in the opinion of no less than the chief justice, would drag on for years with little prospect of a conclusion one way or the other.

The danger now is that the PTI will once again lead its troops into the sterile wilderness of dharna politics — blocked roads, containers and megaphones. The PTI at the end of the most recent meeting suggested that the opposition parties consider “other options” — without saying what they might be. The legal fraternity were also put on notice to be ready to rally to the PTI cause, thus far with no indication of whether they will or not.

The government maintains that it is serious about conducting an investigation but with the prime minister hors-de-combat and not back in the fray this side of Eid, the prospects of breaking the deadlock are remote. The PTI appears to have a single objective — the downfall of the prime minister and an early election. Realistically, this is unlikely to happen. The prime minister himself is not named in the Panama Papers but over 200 men and women of Pakistan origin are — including the prime minister’s close family members. The suspicion is that properties in the UK were acquired with monies that are tainted, but a web of legislation protecting the privacy of those managing their offshore finances makes investigation a tall order. Given entrenched political polarities, this is an investigation that was doomed from the outset, and it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the government knew this all along.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 13^th, 2016.

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